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Chapter 29: Thinking and Plotting

The silence she woke up in was... cathartic. Eyes opening to the ceiling of her hospital room, the quiet girl's gaze remained trained on this initial spot, the soreness and the growing aching from within her chest forced her to focus more on this than looking around. The pain was still there despite the fact that the doctors should have stuffed her with so much morphine that she shouldn't have been suffering after the recent surgery. A brief flash of regret came to her mind, but it was easily quashed by a feeling of personal reluctance to deny the goodness of her sacrifice. 'Sacrifice' felt so monumental considering that she was well and fine but...

Hope Ravenhurst wasn't sure what this development could lead to, the one that tied up to the green orb now embedded to her upper section of her chest, just above her breasts and below her neck. The tiny thing was emitting a dull light, something that was connected to the unpleasant 'wires' that were now stretching just underneath her skin and 'connecting' with her organism as a whole. The Gazelle Prime had never explored the concept behind Nanozell Spirits before. She never saw a major reason to do so and... she was slowly growing annoyed with that decision considering how things turned out for her. An emergency, she was asked to join the intervention team to check on this very hospital to see the only 'survivor' of one of Prism's Knight cells. The only thing that was reported about the demise of the team was that a big fight ensued and intense fire destroyed their headquarters, leaving just broken shards of a Nanozell Spirit. The fact he survived in such conditions was absurd on itself considering that the damage his gem endured should have killed the spirit, and yet something else had kickstarted its core just for long enough to get the surgery to happen. Hope volunteered only after being told that even if he was fixed back, there wouldn't have been nothing that could have been done to heal him of the damage of losing his partner. The Spirits were a symbiotic species, their growth and life depended on their partner and the ultimate death of one of them meant that the Spirit would perish soon after.

So, there was just a chance that she had decided to go through. Rather experimental, but feasible without killing her in the process. It was definitely going to screw with some of her plans for a few weeks, yet nothing mattered if it meant saving a life. Twelve hours later, as she was getting all prepped up with her newest 'addition', the girl felt like she was before an epiphany. Until that point, she felt incredibly frustrated when it came to proving her genuine fondness for people beyond her generally touchy and sexual mannerism. Hope didn't do romance, but not because she didn't know how to- she just didn't feel a good enough reason to tie herself to someone in particular. Nothing really fueled that sense of hate towards that kind of restriction beyond the fact that... maybe she considered romance to be something that shouldn't be as open and free like the relationship her dad and mom had. Sure, she wouldn't mind having that freedom but... she couldn't help but concede finding that kind of balance wasn't easy or feasible for normal people like her. Her parents had the time to form that kind of bond, but she wasn't blessed with immortality and she doubted that would have changed.

A sigh, she finally felt the pain slowly decreasing and giving her the chance of looking around for anything important. She was alone in the room, quite 'shocking', and she was deprived of her cellphone, which was bad. A huff left her lips as the young woman calmly gazed down to the origin of her current aching. From what she remembered the doctor saying before the surgery, this kind of treatment was going to take a while to allow the Spirit to fully manifest but... it seemed like he was stable at the moment and she felt incredibly tired due to this. Her throat was a bit dry, but no water bottle was on sight. Grimace forming on her face, she wondered what she could do to spend some time there while she was stuck like this.

...

Nope, she couldn't move her hands. And that shot down most of her ideas at once.

Just as she calmly waited for something to happen, her eyes turned to the only door of the room, noticing the handle turning downward to allow someone in. No knocking, the girl hummed quietly as ultimately she saw who was entering. No doctor, but she wouldn't have minded to see the individual sporting a cute nurse outfit despite the bitterness between each other. Naerie was no enemy of her, but rather a 'former rival' to some extent. Hope remembered how she gained a 'tactical win' out of that competition to get in touch with the same guy, thoroughly so, but the daughter of the High Prime managed to score the ultimate victory by entering in a relationship with 'him'. Even thinking about that put her in a particularly irked mood... which augmented her current irritation as of now.

"Ms. Ravenhurst. I've just finished checking on your medical record regarding your operation and-"

"Not even greeting me, aren't ya?"

The Bear Prime paused, her mouth closing momentarily as she digested the sudden counter to her early rush. Caught off-guard? Now, wouldn't that be a first for her with how quick she was to scan people's minds? Then again, Hope was never the one to start confrontations like that, without a strong reason, and right now what made her so forceful was the pain she was in.

"Apologies. It's been a long time and... I believe we should treat your condition first."

As much as the Gazelle Prime wanted to argue against this, she begrudgingly nodded. After all, she was curious to know how things really were beyond 'everything is stable now'. The explanation that ensued wasn't exactly the best she could have expected. While she was back in shape in a couple of hours and that she would have been able to leave the hospital around dinnertime, she was strictly forbidden to stress her body too much. Which meant no exercises, no concerts, no fun with friends, no missions as a Knight- but a solid yes for her work as a therapist. Small wins, Hope grimaced, but at least it was something rather than having nothing. Still, the very moment this lengthy explanation was over, she was actually 'greeted properly' by Naerie.

"It's been quite a long time since we shared a conversation," The redhead commented, always keeping her neutral tone and expression.

Hope nodded. "Since I finished college and I went on a concert spree."

Despite the truthful response, there was a degree of confusion at her words coming from Naerie. Yet the Bear Prime didn't press on this thought, merely shifting to another topic.

"You know, Shin has been wondering what you've been up to."

'Clever girl', the green-eyed woman dryly conceded inside her head. But she wasn't going down without a fight.

"I suppose you can tell him that I'm fine," Hope remarked flatly. "I'm sure that will spare him the worry."

The fellow woman was, of course, not as accepting of this simple idea as she was.

"He would know that I'm lying."

"Would he?" The Gazelle Prime pressed with a flat tone. "How so?"

There wasn't a legitimate answer for some time, and Hope knew exactly why. As much as Naerie tried to bring up topics to motivate this interest, the real reason why she was trying to bring Shin in the conversation tied up to an issue Hope knew about her and the individual in question. Shin Aryoko was a sweet guy who had been her tutor back in college. Younger than her, way softer and denser- but he was someone that Hope managed to find a common ground when it came to brief love. It was odd at first, but the good kind. The issue came in the form of his kindness and general naivety in relationships. Which made the entire bond they had comical at best, and frustrating at worst.

It wasn't Shin's fault, Hope still thought, but rather the fact he wasn't compatible with her. Thus, they split and Shin ended up dating Naerie. From the looks of how things were, that was still a thing and the Gazelle Prime knew that the redhead had to have had the same problem as hers, except worse now that Shin was so calm and 'light-minded' as one would easily mistake his personality at first impression. Too kind but... also too kind. Kindness can be nice at times, but outright bowing your head at all diktats from a beloved one sure felt an unpleasant flaw for someone to have.

Hence why it was quite the turn off and it made any attempt at a healthy relationship difficult. The only advantage that Naerie had was that she wasn't greedy or needy of anything in particular of this possibility. It still existed and it clearly pissed the Bear Prime by a lot. Sadly, Hope was in no mood to handle that madness, not when she was currently in pain, needing a glass of water and in quite the mood at the idea she had put the metaphorical cone around her head to prevent her from doing fun things around.

"Because I couldn't lie to him."

Hope scoffed. "Tell that to when you tried to sabotage me during the last months of our relationship."

At this accusation, Naerie only bowed her head as she remained quiet about it. She knew she was in the wrong in that regard and... she retreated without sparing any further words in that regard. Hope didn't react much when the door of the room closed with a strong slam, mostly awed by the simple idea that Naerie was actually capable of feeling that degree of anger. Very surprising, but it didn't beat the relief of her pain finally calming down for good.

_ A ray of 'Hope' finally shone upon her suffering for once. Now... where was her phone with the pictures of younger Declan's beach body at? _

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Geecku huffed, staring at the small jar that she was using to punish two individuals that had modestly annoyed her with recent narrations. The two fairies were begging and pleading to at least listen to their version of the matter, except the Life Crest wasn't having any of that. While she would normally listen to both sides of an argument, the girls confessed to pretty much coming close to slight the very element she represented as a Crest. Going out of their way to almost kill someone, even a Spirit, just for a prank felt incredibly stupid. And infuriating.

Declan had mentioned this to her in one of their more recent discussions, and the result was that the Life Crest wasn't planning to let these two idiots go until they learned their lessons. Sure, Geecku never felt the need to stand on any moral ground due to how her mind worked, but it would be stupid even for her to not do anything about this situation. Life was still a precious thing that shouldn't be tested and damaged out of greed and amusement. It was the worst way to threaten something so important within existence and, due to this, she was willing to sit out for a while to put these dummies in Time-Out. Did she expect this idea to work? No. She knew she would have to then have them apologize to those that were threatened by this and make sure that nothing like that ever happened again. Big work, but it was a must she was willing to happily oblige for. It sucked because it meant not having fun for a while, but she knew that this was all worthwhile.

Plus, it was nice to catch a rest- just to enjoy how nature worked in this place. It was not the jungle back to her original home, but it was still several steps better than living in a big city. So much nature that was left untainted by technology and a moderate presence of civilization that made her 'hunting' particularly easy. Of course, there was a bit of irritation at the fact those hunts were, well, easy. People nowadays didn't seem to mind when a half-naked woman wanted to mate with them, yet she had to also admit it made for quite the unending source of partners to have around. Well, most of them were open to them, with a few holding out and... one in particular standing out from the rest as a possible partner but... a difficult one to come across with.

Declan himself was a treat. He was no Minnow, and he lacked the build of many other Primes, but he was nonetheless a guy she wouldn't mind giving a lesson or two of hunters and preys. The reason why she held back was almost comical for Geecku herself as it came as a first. The human was a friendly individual that didn't seem to mind her state of undress at times (not like he didn't stare, but he put an effort to not be too blatant about it), and also he had a really healthy relationship with the Cow Lady. A very 'healthy' and open relationship at that. If there was one thing that Geecku appreciated the most was when two mates were capable of having fun with others, alerting each other before it happened, and still be able to preserve such a strong bond. In a way, this entire situation reminded her of what Grace and Kayin have. They are both open to new 'ventures' as they called those, but they would still be quick to alert each other either before or after the deed was done. It was all fluid, it was all smooth- it was natural.

So it wasn't really a surprise for her that she would see the young man as a possible good partner to approach, with the main issue being getting his attention without frightening him. It was like fishing, except she couldn't just use some underwater vines to catch her prey. She had to be patient- but bold. Terribly bold. And she had plans to solve this. The Life Crest was no mastermind but she had the chance of digging a little bit about the human by asking around with the workers that had known Declan the most and Minnow. The last source of information was reluctant at first, but took a more open outlook as soon as Geecku kept her questioning to simple questions that didn't go too deep about it. People don't like having their secrets spilled and... Declan had a few small ones. Some of which left her a bit sad, but others just peaked her attention.

The fact the young man had once been quite active with women left her wondering how much experience he had and if the outlook he had of a kind individual was but the first step into a more 'complicated' person. Someone that was still good, but had so much to show that he wasn't either for a good reason or because he didn't have one to begin with. The more she studied this matter, the more Geecku wanted to give it a shot. Which wasn't easy to go through with considering the requirement she couldn't yet get through with. Declan's ma-girlfriend, Mora, who was also the owner of the farm, didn't seem to like her much. At first she thought that it was tied to her openness, but the truth tied up back to their first impression. The Life Crest conceded that she had been a bit too... extreme with her scavenging process, failing to realize the place was where Ambar had wanted her to stay by for the time being. A bit embarrassing on her part, but nobody looked to be really mad at this and she wasn't getting kicked out back to Ambar's mansion.

Mora still proved to be dissatisfied with it, and that meant she had to do something for her to prevent some awkward issues from happening while trying to get in that comfy bed of theirs. Not an easy goal, but definitely doable. Handling out this punishment to the silly fairies that had genuinely frustrated her with that kind of behavior was a good step into the best direction, but one that was going to take a while to get through before ultimately claiming the biggest fruit of them all. And Geecku, a seasoned predator, knew that time was of essence, and that only the most patient and cleverest could go out and claim it. Her current objective actually connected to one of the girls that had also shown interest in the human, but that had been rebuffed due to the fact she was against Mora more than not. If the Life Crest managed to smooth things out between these two, and get them to actually 'kiss and make up', then there was a high chance that she could use that much gratitude to get something in exchange.

It sounded like a foolproof plan, and yet her musings were quickly interrupted as her nostrils flared in delight. The scent of food reached her just fine, leaving her grinning as she bolted off from her 'little' tree and back to the farm as it was about time to get some good lunch served. She briefly glanced behind her to where the jar was, deciding to come back after lunch was done with something for the fairies to eat.

_ Some veggies were definitely going to help them understand how wrong they were... _

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AN

Little 'interlude' so to speak as the next chapter will be filled with 'ambitious plans', and Hope being a good girl beneath her cheeky outlook. Poor girl deserves a bit of love rn.

_ I'm still surprised you 'pushed' an event a bit earlier than in the original timeline. _

It was a must since I wanted to expand a bit more on Hope's reasoning to be as silly and lewd as she usually is.

_ I wasn't questioning it, just finding it curious... also, speaking of important events. _

Soon Ambar. Soon little Sirio will be around.

_ Yay! _